Sunday, December 27, 2009

Chapter Twenty Six;

Back at the hotel everyone was in their assigned rooms. Bylsma and the assistant coaches were checking all of their rooms to make sure they were where they were supposed to be and looked like they were getting ready for bed. Everyone seemed to be following all the rules. The guys were in their rooms while the girls were in their own. More than half of them were already in their beds and the rest were getting ready to do the same. Dan was pleased.
He made his final walk down the hallway of the seventh floor, came to the elevator and pressed the button. The doors opened and he stepped inside, pressing the black number nine to go up to his room’s floor. Slowly the doors slid shut with a ding as the elevator went up.

Ashley’s phone vibrated in her hand, “Jordan says the coast’s clear.”
 “I can’t believe we’re gonna do this.” Emily sighed. Though Ashley’s always been one to sneak out and break the rules, Emily never really was. Tonight would be different.
 “It’s gonna be fun! Dan won’t know, don’t worry.” Ashley assured her.
 “What won’t Dan know?” Ashlen, who just walked into the room after ending her phone call with Sidney, asked curiously.
 “Me, Em, Jordy and Geno are sneaking out and gonna go walk on the beach.” Ashley told her with an excited smile, “You and Sid are welcome to join us if you wanna.”
 “Thanks, but I think we’re just gonna hang out in his room.” Ashlen said with a smile, “You guys have fun though.”
 “You too.” Ashley said suggestively. Ashlen laughed and left for Sid’s room.
Emily crossed her arms over the grey Pens hoodie she had on and sighed.
 “Em, please. I know you don’t want to, but for me. It will be fun, I promise you.” Ashley told her with a pleading look in her brown eyes, “You’re my best friend, you gotta trust me.”
 “I do trust you, I guess. But it’s just, Geno…” Emily’s voice trailed off.
 “I know, I know. But it was Jordan’s idea and I was trying to be a good friend and keep your love for Tanger a secret. If I told him you didn’t want Geno to go, he’d know you were hiding something. And if you didn’t come at all, I would be alone and that wouldn’t be good.” Ashley half smiled as she spoke.
 “I guess that’s true.” Emily forced a smile. “The last thing we need on this trip is you and Jordy having a run in with the cops for doing some illegal shit while you’re off on your own.”
 “Ha, you know it.” Ashley laughed, “So you’ll come?”
Emily took a breath and nodded, “Yeah, I suppose I will.”


Ashlen knocked lightly on the door of room 715, being careful not to make too much noise. A mere three seconds passed before the handle turned and the door was opened, revealing Sidney standing in the doorway with a smile on his face.
 “Hello, beautiful.” Sid said and made way for her to come inside.
 “Hey there, handsome.” Ashlen responded and gave him a quick kiss.
 “Not you again!” Marc-Andre sighed, but was smiling. He liked joking around with them.
 “Nice to see you too, Flower.” Ashlen smirked at him. Sid’s arm was around her as they walked further into the room and towards where Marc was sitting on the couch.
 “Whatcha watching?” Sid asked him.
 “Well, I was going to watch a movie.” Flower replied, looking up at the couple standing in front of him.
 “What movie?” Ashlen asked.
Fleury smiled, looking kind of like he didn’t want to answer but he did anyway, “Talladega Nights.”
 “I should’ve known!” Sid laughed, “You just like watching it and pretending you’re Jean Girard and reciting all of his lines when he says them.”
 “Shut up.” Marc-Andre said, not denying it. Ashlen and Sidney laughed some more.
 “Can we watch it with you?” Ashlen asked, half wanting to actually watch it and half just wanting to hear Flower make a fool of himself.
Marc shrugged, “Be my guest.”



 “I’ll go get Jordan, you go get Geno.” Ashley directed Emily once they were out in the dim hall way. Em nodded in agreement and the two went their separate ways. Jordan and Tyler’s room was at one end of the hall, while Geno and Max’s was at the other.
Emily walked to their room in silence. She didn’t have a lot on her mind. She was tired and was just going to have to deal. She figured that once she had a drink or two she would loosen up a bit. She knocked on the door in front of her and waited. Maybe Ash was right, and this would be fun. Maybe.
Oh, how she wished it was Monday.
After a few seconds of waiting she heard the door being unlocked and then it opened. Though she expected to see Evgeni on the other side, the face she saw belonged to Max.
 “What are you doing here?” He asked her, obviously unaware of their plan.
 “I’m here to get Geno. Us and Ash and Jordy are gonna go down to the beach.” She explained with no excitement in her voice whatsoever.
Max opened the door enough for her to come in, and she did.
 “Oh, what are you guys gonna do down there?” Max asked her, sounding rather curious. Geno wasn’t in the room, otherwise he might not have asked.
Emily shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess just walk around. Maybe have a few drinks. Just chill.”
 “No,” Max said quickly, “I mean, that’s a bad idea.”
 “What? Why?” Emily’s expression showed her confusion. Max looked around. Geno was in the other room, changing, so he wasn’t in hearing proximity. Despite that, Max continued the conversation in French, just in case.
 “Don’t drink anything.” He said, looking her right in her eyes.
 “Why not?” She was still confused.
 “Well, you love Kris, right?
 “Yeah…
 “And you wouldn’t wanna do anything with Geno that you’d be ashamed to tell him about, right?
 “Where are you going with this?” Emily asked, though the answer to his question was yes.
Max was quiet for a few seconds, almost as if he were thinking, but finally replied, “Geno wants to get in your pants. Bad.
 “What?” Emily said in English, not expecting that response.
 “He would do anything to get you in bed. Anything.” Max, in French, said seriously, “Even if it means getting you drunk in order to do it. I wouldn’t risk a single sip if I were you. You’re pretty thin, it probably doesn’t take much to get you real tipsy.
 “You’re kidding, right?” Emily asked, almost laughing. She couldn’t see Evgeni being like that. Especially with her.
 “No, I swear. He told me.” Max said, sounding just as serious as he looked, if not more. “I’m just looking out for you. I figured, if I didn’t tell you and something happened I would feel like shit. No, worse than shit, I’d feel like a terrible friend that’s covered in shit. So I told you. Don’t be mad and don’t say anything to him, but it’s totally true. Geno wants to get it on tonight. Please, for me and you and Kris’s sake, don’t let that happen.”
Emily nodded, a concerned expression on her face, “Okay, I won’t. I promise.”
 “You won’t what?” Evgeni’s voice asked. Emily turned around to face him. Listening so intently to what Max was saying and with all the new thoughts on her mind, she hadn’t noticed him come into the room. He had on a hoodie and some swim-trunk looking shorts. As cute as he looked standing there with his signature Geno-grin on his face, Emily couldn’t quite look at him the same way.
 “I won’t, uh, tell Jordan that Max thought, um, that Marc beat him in that fight. Yeah, I won’t do that.” She lied poorly, but Geno showed know sign of disbelief.
 “Oh, okay. Well, you ready?” He asked her. She could tell that he was excited and she worried that it was because of what Max had said.
 “Yeah, I think so.” Emily let out a sigh.
 “Okay, let’s go.” He smiled and took her hand.
 “See you guys later.” Max called to them as they walked away. Emily turned to look at him with worried eyes. He shrugged, not able to do anything and mouthed, “Don’t forget.”
Emily nodded and said, “See ya.” Then the door shut behind her. Jordan and Ashley were already waiting down by the elevator, so Geno and Em hurried quietly to where they were.
 “Looky what I got.” Jordan smiled, Ashley holding onto his arm. He pulled out of his hoodie pocket a couple bottles of different kinds of alcohol, “Hotel fridges never fail.”
 “Nice.” Geno chuckled and Ashley grabbed one of the bottles with a grin. Emily faked a smile to fit in. Max’s words were haunting her.
The elevator doors slid open and the four of them stepped in.
 “Going down.” Ashley said and pressed the button for the lobby. The doors dinged and slid shut. Within seconds, they were indeed, going down.


 “They’re so gonna get caught.”
 “Honestly, I’m gonna be surprised if they don’t. I mean, I could hear Ash and Jordan laughing from in my room.”
 “Plus Jordy totally cleaned out the mini fridge before he left,” Tyler said into his phone. He and Lauren were talking on their cells rather than breaking the rules and getting in trouble, which they were both sure Ashley, Emily, Jordan, and Geno were going to do. “I don’t see how they think they can just leave the hotel, get drunk, and come back without someone noticing, ya know? Like, there are cameras and people working here that could easily say something to Bylsma and they’d be done.”

 “It’s whatever, I guess.” Lauren sighed, “There’s no stopping them now. If they wanna pay a couple thousand dollars to go to the beach, that’s fine by me.”
 “Yeah. Speaking of you,” Tyler smiled, picturing her face, “What are you up to over there?”
Lauren grinned, “Just sitting here on the couch, watching TV with Leah. How about you?”
 “Laying here in bed talking to you.” He replied.
 “Sounds like fun.” Laur giggled.
TK loved the sound of her laugh, “It sure is.”



 “I can hear them.” Kris said bitterly. His and Philippe’s room was next door to Max and Geno’s, so when Emily and Geno left their room, he heard.
 “Kris,” Philippe said, looking up from the book he was reading. He was sitting on his bed and Kris was on his own. “Don’t get yourself all worked up. I know I heard Jordan’s laugh out in the hallway too. I bet he and Ashley are gonna be with them. They’re not gonna do anything with them around.”
 “Yeah, like that would stop him from having his way with her.” Kris hated thinking about it.
 “Okay, so maybe Jordan and Ashley won’t stop him, but I know Emily would.” Philippe said, “She told you she loves you. She’s not the kind of girl who would go behind your back and do stuff with another guy.”
Kris sighed. As much as he wanted to believe that Boucher was right about Emily, he knew he wasn’t entirely. Yeah, she wasn’t the kind of girl to do that all the time, but she had done it before. With him. Thinking about all this made Kris get a better picture of why Emily was so worried about Evgeni finding out about their night together. If Kris was this upset and angry just thinking about her going out and doing stuff with someone else, imagine how Geno would feel if he found out she actually had done that to him. Kris decided upon that being one of the worst feelings in the world. He didn’t want to have to feel it first hand.
 “Listen, kid.” Bouch said, noticing the distressed look on Kris’s face, “Why don’t you go to sleep. There’s no use you staying up thinking about all this and stressing yourself out. We got a game tomorrow, you need your rest.”
 “Yeah, I guess your right.” Kris agreed, not wanting to stay up any longer anyway. He was worrying too much. Sleep would help. He hoped, at least.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Chapter Twenty Five;

The rest of their dinner went smoothly. After she had talked with Ashley, Emily felt a little better and composed herself and tried to enjoy her time with Geno and her friends. Ashley also derived something from their conversation, feeling a renewed sense of happiness to have Jordan and the love that they both had for each other. Lauren was also feeling like her and Tyler’s relationship was growing stronger after the waitress incident, and she liked it.
Kris continued to steal glances in Emily’s direction. Occasionally he would catch her eye, making her cheeks turn a rosy shade of pink at the realization that he was looking at her. Her lips would form a subtle grin, but she wouldn’t look directly at him. That’s all it took to lift his mood and improve his attitude a bit. Max noticed.
Although he was with Leah and had a golden opportunity to get closer with her, Max couldn’t seem to concentrate on that right now. The only thought on his mind was actually about Emily and it completely consumed any and all other thoughts on his mind. He looked over at her, she was laughing about something Ashley had said. He shook his head, thinking how ridiculous he was for even considering what was on his mind. Max then looked across the table at Kris, then back over at Emily and sighed. Maybe his theory wasn’t that crazy.
Sidney and Ashlen were acting very flirty with each other, much to Marc-Andre’s dismay. They were giggling and kissing and, according to Flower, being rather obnoxious as they flaunted their newfound love. He didn’t know if they were acting that way to purposely mess with him or if they were honestly like that. He laughed about it as they did things like feeding each other their dinner and kissing each other where they got a little food on their face. Their cutesiness was intense, but he couldn’t deny that they made a near perfect couple.

By the time everyone had finished eating, it was approaching nine o’clock. They were all still seated and talking when Dan Bylsma stood up to make a quick announcement.
 “Okay guys, when we get back to the hotel I want you all to go pretty much straight to your rooms. That means the rooms you were assigned,” He paused and gave a stern, but at the same time friendly look at the girls. It was kind of hard to take Dan too seriously, “We’ve got back to back afternoon games tomorrow and Saturday, plus if you want to check out that festival tomorrow night, so you need to get as much rest as you can tonight. So I suggest you go to sleep a little early. And like I said before, no girls in the guys’ rooms and vice versa. Got that?”
 “Got it, Coach.” Jordan winked with a grin. Bylsma chuckled.
 “I’m being serious, Jordy. I’ll break out the fines if you guys make me.” He said, speaking of the fines the players sometimes have to pay for doing certain things. Like not leaving the arena when practice is long over and other silly things.
 “Might as well make the kids pay up now. Ya know they’re just gonna break the rules anyway.” Billy Guerin joked, referring to the guys whose girlfriends were with them.
 “I’ll tell you what, I’ll just throw the numbers out right now,” Dan proposed, “One thousand dollars cash for each rule broken. So don’t break any.”
 “Well, what are all the rules?” Max asked.
 “You should know the basics. The rest are for me to know and you to hope you don’t have to pay for.” Dan smirked.
As the team continued discussing the fines with their coach, Emily looked over at Ashley and Jordan. The couple both had devious grins on their faces and were holding hands.
 “You’re planning on breaking the rules, aren’t you?” She whispered so only they could hear.
Ashley smiled and Jordan chuckled, “Most definitely.”

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Chapter Twenty Four;

After a long day of fun in the sun, the sun was finally setting and everyone was hungry for dinner. They decided to put on some nice clothes and go out to eat at a local seafood restaurant. Calamari Mike’s was the name. Max claimed he heard some good reviews on the place and rounded up the whole team and their ladies to give it a go.
“So since this was your idea, does that mean you’re paying, Maxy?” Marc-Andre asked his teammate as the group walked into the restaurant. They were following a short, red-headed waitress back to banquet room where it was more private.
“Ha, no actually. I was thinking mister a billion million dollars over here could cover it.” Max replied, giving Sidney a love tap on his ass as he spoke.
“Whoa there.” Sid said, startled by the random ass smack. “I’ll pay as long as you stop doing that, man.”
Max laughed, “Deal.”
“Besides,” Ashlen added with a joking smile, “No one touches my boy’s huge ass but me.”
Sid chuckled in agreement. Max placed his hand on Ashlen’s shoulder, “You’re one lucky girl, let me tell you,” He told her, glancing back and forth from her eyes and Sid’s bottom, “An ass like this guy’s is one in a billion.”
“Okay, okay!” Sidney protested, trying to keep from drawing attention to himself. Max, Ashlen, and Flower were laughing. “Enough with the ass jokes, please.” Though he wasn’t really mad, he was getting annoyed.
“Sorry, Sid.” Ashlen smiled at him. He smiled back and kissed her to show that he had forgiven her.
“Yeah, sorry Sid.” Max imitated Ashlen’s voice, or at least tried to, and then puckered his lips for a kiss of his own. Sid wasn’t having that.
“No thanks, dude.” He put his hand up in front of Max’s face.
Max just chuckled, “Your loss.”

Everyone sat down at one of two long tables. The left consisted of Sidney, Max, Evgeni, Jordan, Tyler, Marc-Andre, Brooks, Chris, Eric, Philippe, Kris, Emily, Ashley, Lauren, Leah, and Ashlen. While at the right table were some of the coaching staff and the rest of the team.
At the left table, seated left to right on one side was Brooks, Chris, Eric, Kris, Philippe, Marc-Andre, Sidney, and then Ashlen. On the opposite side went Tyler, Lauren, Leah, Max, Geno, Emily, Ashley, and then Jordan. Everyone was talking casually as the waitress came around and took the drink orders.
Kris looked mildly depressed sitting there looking lost and bored. Max, who was sitting across from him, noticed. He watched as he looked down at his lap and every once in a while stole a glance up at where Emily and Geno were sitting, next to Max. It must have been hard for him to see them together.
Geno was telling her, Ashley and Jordan a story about back at his home in Russia involving his brother, Denis, himself and some of their friends. The four of them laughed as he concluded his reminiscence.
“Wow, Geno,” Jordan laughed, “Maybe I was wrong about you. You and your Russian buddies sound like you know how to have yourselves some fun.”
“You’d be surprised.” Geno just smiled. He was holding Emily’s hand and had them resting on the table. His thumb made circles over her skin as she smiled at him. “You’ll have to come with me to Magnitogorsk sometime.” He said.
Emily nodded, not sure how to respond. “That’d be fun.” She decided upon.
“Yeah,” Geno smiled again, “I told my parents about you. They really want to meet you.”
Oh god. Emily thought, hoping that the slight panic she was feeling didn’t show. She had nothing against his parents, but if Geno told them about her then he had to be serious about their relationship. That comment made what she was planning on doing on Monday that much harder.
“I’ll be right back.” Emily told him, standing up from her seat. She grabbed Ashley’s arm to bring her with her to the restroom. Ash didn’t fight it, easily agreeing to accompany her. It’s just what girls do.
“Do you want me to order your drink?” Geno asked her before she could walk away. The waitress was down at the other end of the table now but would soon make her way to theirs to take their drink orders.
“Uh, yeah. Water’s fine.” Emily replied.
“You know what I like.” Ashley smiled at Jordan who winked back at her as her and Emily hurried back to the bathroom.


“You think she’s alright?” Kris whisper-asked Philippe after seeing Emily suddenly jump up from her seat and leave the table.
“Yeah, her and Ashley are probably just gonna go fix their makeup or something. Girls do that a lot.” Philippe shrugged.
“It’s not like she needs to.” Kris sighed, picturing her face smiling at him in his head, “She’s already beautiful.”


“And what can I get for you, Mr. Kennedy?” The redheaded waitress smiled at Tyler, throwing a flirty wink his way. Lauren’s eyes narrowed at the tiny woman. She had taken Brooks and Chris’s drink orders without a problem. Who did she think she was flirting it up with her boyfriend?
“I’ll just have a Pepsi.” TK replied, as if he hadn’t noticed her looking at him as if he were a piece of meat.
“Alrighty.” She smiled big at him and took her time writing it down on her tablet. How long could it possibly take to write Pepsi? When she finished her masterpiece she looked up from the paper at Lauren with a sour look on her face, “And you?”
“This beautiful girl of mine would like some lemonade,” Tyler spoke for her, smiling, before Lauren could get a word out, “Right, babe?”
Lauren smiled back at him, knowing what he was doing. “That’s right, Teek.” She said, glancing up at the waitress with a smirk. Ginger scowled at her and quickly scribbled it down on the tablet, avoiding looking at the couple as they shared a kiss.
Lauren and Tyler chuckled as the waitress moved further down the table without looking back.
“I think she’s jealous.” Lauren whispered with a grin on her face.
“She should be. You’re insanely beautiful and amazing and I wouldn’t trade you for anything. How could she not be jealous?” Tyler said.
“I love you.” Lauren blushed at his complement.
He smiled and kissed her again, “I love you too.”


“What’s the matter, Em?” Ashley asked her friend once the door labeled ‘Women’ shut behind them. Emily was standing in front of the long row of seashell encrusted sinks, just staring straight ahead at her reflection in the mirror.
“I-I don’t know.” She replied. There was little emotion in her voice or expression. She felt tired. Like she hadn’t slept in days. And her head hurt. Not to mention the nauseous feeling that was stuck in her stomach.
“Is it Geno?” Ashley asked, concerned with what was going on with her.
Emily sighed, “Kind of.”
“Did he do something wrong?” Ash wasn’t sure what to say to help. Normally she was the one that needed the advice that Emily had to give. Now that she was put in that position, she felt she was obligated to do what she could to help, even if she was no good at it.
“No, not him.” Emily replied simply.
“Did you do something?” Ashley tried. Emily turned away from the mirror to face her friend.
“Sort of.” She told her. She wanted to talk about her and Kris without letting any details slip out about what they did.
“Well, what’d you do?”
“Kris.” Emily said, but then quickly added, “I mean, I still have feelings for him.”
“Oh,” Ashley looked at her sympathetically, “Are they strong feelings? Like, more than you feel for Geno?”
Emily bit her bottom lip and nodded, yes. “I mean, I like Geno. He’s really sweet and a great, great friend. But I love Kris. I really do. So much.”
“But you don’t want to hurt Geno because you know how much he likes you, maybe even loves you, and you’d feel awful if you broke his heart since you’re such good friends.” Ashley said, knowing just what to say as if she were speaking Emily’s actual feelings.
“Yeah,” Emily said, surprised at how accurate her response was, “How’d you know that?”
“Remember Mitchell?” She shrugged, and Emily immediately knew the answer to her question. “He was one of the best guy friends I had. When we dated, yeah I liked him, but for him it was so much more. He told me he loved me. I couldn’t bare to break his heart, but I couldn’t go on being with him when I didn’t feel the same way.” She paused and took a deep breath, “It was hard, but he eventually understood it wasn’t meant to be. If we would’ve stayed together we may never have found our true soul mates. Now, I don’t know about him, but mine’s right out there.” Ashley smiled a small smile and pointed to the door, where Jordan was in the room on the other side. “The question is, where’s yours?”
“First of all, thank you.” Emily smiled at Ashley, who smiled back happy she was able to help, “Second of all, I’m gonna have to wait till we get back to the Burgh until I do anything about this. But the answer to your question is the same as yours. He’s right out there. And his name is Kristopher Allen Letang. And I’m madly in love with him.”

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Chapter Twenty Three;

 “CANNON BALL!” Jordan yelled as he plunged into the clear blue water of the hotel’s pool. Having the connections that the team had, they had the whole pool area to themselves.
 “Jordan!” Lauren and Leah shrieked when he splashed them from the pool. The two of them didn’t want to get in as of yet, but the guys had other plans for them.
 “What, you don’t like the water?” Jordan asked the two girls with a grin on his face.
 “We just don’t want to get wet yet!” Lauren explained.
 “Too bad!” Jordy laughed. Lauren and Leah looked at each other, confused.
 “Huh?” Leah asked, just as Max and Tyler snuck up behind them and pushed them into the pool. They shrieked from the surprise while everyone else just laughed.
 “You suck!” Lauren yelled at her boyfriend and Max from in the water. Tyler just smiled.
 “Sorry, babe.” He shrugged. She shook her head, but couldn’t hide her grin.
 “Kiss it and make it better?” Lauren suggested with innocent eyes. The rest of their friends that were listening oohed and awed while Tyler smiled and leaned down to give her a kiss. While at first, Lauren also puckered up, at the last second she grabbed his arms and pulled him down into the water with a splash.
 “Whoops!” She laughed.
 “How dare you!” TK sarcastically replied. The two of them laughed as they kissed each other, not even caring about the fact they were pushed/pulled into the pool anymore.
 “Any body else need someone to kiss and make it better?” Max asked, looking at Leah who was smiling up at him from the clear blue water of the pool. She blushed and giggled, but didn’t accept the offer.
 “I could use some lovin’, Maxy.” Jordan winked up at him.
Max took a step back, “Sorry, offer expired.”
 “Max,” Leah called to him and grabbed his attention, “Get in.” She gestured to the water surrounding her. Max smiled at her and nodded his head to show that he would.
 “For you I will.” He said and preceded to jump in the water.

Ashlen, Emily, and Ashley found some lawn chairs and laid towels on them and then sat down themselves. They weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to get a tan in the middle of winter.
 “You guys are no fun!” Sidney joked as he came over to where the three girls were laying. He sat down on the end of Ashlen’s chair, casting a shadow over her.
 “Sid, you’re blocking my sun!” She laughed.
 “Well, excuse me!” He said, standing up and getting out of her way.
 “As long as you don’t throw us in the pool, you’re fine over here.” Emily assured him.
Ashley lifted her sunglasses and put them on top of her head when she saw Jordan coming over, dripping with water.
 “Oh no, you best not be thinking of throwing me in there!” Ashley put a hand out, telling him to stop.
 “Fine, if you don’t wanna be brought to the water, I’ll just have to bring it to you.” He said and got on top of her, getting her all wet.
 “Jordan, you ass!” Ashley yelled but was laughing as she tried to push him off of her without luck.
 “You know you like it!” He laughed along with her.
Geno, who was standing next to where Emily was seated, looked down at her and smiled when her eyes met his.
 “At least you know how to be mature, unlike some of these other guys here.” Emily said, her voice loud so the immature guys would hear. Geno chuckled and the other boys protested.
 “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Jordan said, still on top of Ashley. “It’s not that we’re not mature, we just know how to have a good time.”
 “Yeah,” Sid added, “Unlike your boy, Geno over here.”
 “What’s that suppose to mean?” Evgeni asked him, his eyes narrowed.
Sidney shrugged with a grin. He and Jordy wanted to see what messing with him about this would make him do. Jordan spoke for him, “You know, man. You’re just not as good at having fun as we are. You’re kinda boring.” Geno looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not sure if he was hearing him correctly. “Nothing personal, of course.” Jordan then added.
 “I know how to have fun.” Geno said confidently. Jordy and Sid exchanged glances and started laughing.
 “Well, I don’t know how they do it in Russia, but on this continent you are the complete opposite of fun.” Jordan told him with a playful tone in his voice. Evgeni just scowled.
 “See,” Sid pointed out Geno’s fowl expression, “Can’t take a joke. No fun there.”
Emily rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to them, Geno. They’re just trying to make you do something stupid.”
 “Yeah, Sid. Leave Geno alone.” Ashlen told her boy, sounding serious at first, “It’s not his fault he’s not as fun as you are.”
 “Ashlen, not you too!” Emily fake-sounded appalled. Ash just laughed.
 “Whatever.” Geno said, losing interest in the conversation. He really didn’t mind the joking at his expense, his incredible girlfriend was on his side so that’s all that mattered. “Who needs you guys’ lame idea of fun when I’ve got Em here. We can have our own fun without your stupid opinions.” He put his arm around Emily and she smiled a bit.
Her mind was in another place. She was thinking about Kris. He wasn’t out by the pool like most of the rest of the guys. She didn’t know where he was, but she silently wished she was with him.
 “How freaking sweet.” Ashley said, interrupting her thoughts.
 “Isn’t he just the sweetest?” Emily smiled, looking him in the eyes. Geno smiled back and kissed her lips. She felt the need to be extra nice to him due to the fact that she was secretly being a terrible girlfriend to him.
 “Awe.” Sidney chuckled at the couple. “You two have your fun over here. Me and my girl are gonna go have our own fun in the pool.”
Ashlen looked at him as if he were speaking Chinese. “You and who are gonna do what where?” She asked, not wanting to leave her spot.
 “You heard me.” He laughed, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. “We’re going swimming.”
 “No we’re not.” She said matter-of-factly.
 “Oh yes we are.” He told her and picked her up, carrying her towards the water.
 “Sidney Patrick!” Ash yelped, trying to break loose. It was no use, he was too strong for her.
 “Ash!” Sid put her down at the edge of the pool. The concrete was warm under her feet. “Jump in with me, love.”
She looked at him, his expression begging her to agree. “Fine. But only because I love you.”
 “Good answer.” He smiled, and the two of them plunged into the water hand in hand.

Jordan looked over at Ashley with a devious grin. “Are you gonna agree to come swim with me or am I gonna have to carry you in too?” He asked her.
 “Fine, I’ll come.” She gave in easily. He had already gotten water on her and swimming with him did sound like fun.
 “Yay, my girl’s easy!” Jordan yelled with a smile. Emily and Geno laughed and Ashley just shook her head.
 “She sure is.” Emily laughed.
 “That didn’t come out right.” Jordan said, standing up and pulling his girlfriend along with him. They preceded to run over to the pool and jump right in.
 “And then there were two.” Emily said to herself. Her and Geno were off on their own now. Everyone else was either in the pool, on the other side of it, in the hot tub, or not even out by the pool at all. Her and Evgeni were sitting next to each other on the reclined chair. He intertwined his fingers with hers, their hands sitting together on his lap. He had a look of contemplation on his face, as if he were thinking about something as he looked in her eyes.
 “If you want to get in the pool we can.” Emily told him, not sure what he was thinking.
 “No,” He said, “I’d rather be alone here with you.”
Emily smiled and he leaned in, planting his lips on hers. When they parted, Geno laid back on the chair pulling her on top of him. His fingers traced down her back and stopped at her thigh as they made out. While Evgeni enjoyed every second of it, Emily couldn’t help but imagine the guy she was really in love with; Kris.



 “What do you think she’s doing? You think she’s with Geno? I wonder what they’re talking about. What if they’re talking about me? No, they wouldn’t talk about me. Would they? You think she’s mad at me? I hope not. I was real hard on her before though, so I guess I deserve it. But she just made me so mad. But I still love her. So much. I just want to be with her so bad. Do you think she wants to be with me? I wonder if she thinks about me when she’s with Geno. You think she does? I just..”
 “Kris! My god! Get a hold of yourself.” Philippe interrupted Kris’s paranoid rambling. The two of them went for a walk through town. No specific destination, just wandering along the sidewalks talking. “You’re the one who said you needed this vacation. You’re never gonna be able to relax if you don’t stop thinking about Em. You sound crazy.”
Kris sighed, “Maybe I am crazy. I’m crazy for her. Monday can’t come fast enough.”
 “Seriously, Kris, calm down.” Philippe tried again, “I know you’re in love. I know what that’s like. You think about her every second of the day. You can’t get her smile out of your head. All you want is to be with her forever. To kiss her lips and tell her that you love her and then hear her sweet voice say it back to you. There’s no other feeling like it.”
 “I hope you know that you’re not helping at all.” Kris told him. All his love talk was doing was making him think about Emily even more.
 “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go on like that. I guess that’s just what love does to ya. It makes you crazy, like you said.” Boucher said. “All I’m gonna say is try not to let it make you too crazy. Patience is a virtue. Wait for Monday to come along and I promise you you’ll get your girl and be the happiest you’ve ever been.”
 “How can you promise me that?” Kris asked.
 “Because I know.” Philippe said simply. “I’ve been there, done that. And I’ve gotta feeling you’re time for love is on its way.”

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Chapter Twenty Two;

“We’re in Miami, bitches!” Jordan exclaimed once they stepped off of the plane and into the Floridian sun.
 “It’s so pretty!” Ashley said as she scanned the palm trees in the distance. She was holding Jordan’s hand as they walked down the plane’s stairs.
 “And hot! It’s gotta be like 100 degrees out here!” Lauren said as her and Tyler walked out next.
 “Not quite,” TK chuckled, “More like 80. You’re just used to the freezing cold up north.”
 “If you say so.” Lauren laughed.
Max came out next, followed by Emily, Geno, and Leah. “Time to par-tay the day away!” He shouted enthusiastically.
 “Don’t par-tay too hard,” Sidney interjected, “We all gotta be our best for the game tomorrow.”
 “Leave it to El Capitan to crush our party high!” Jordan gave a teasing death glare to their captain.
 “He’s right, though, Jordy.” Mario pointed out, “You boys can have a good time on this trip, but the main reason you’re here is to play your game.”
 “We hear ya, Mario.” Tyler assured him. He had his arm around Lauren and a smile was on his face. Mario chuckled to himself and placed his hands on Emily’s and Ashlen’s shoulders.
 “You girls keep them in line. Can’t trust a word out of their mouths.” He laughed.
 “Will do.” Ashlen promised, throwing a wink over at Sid as she did so.


They were all at the hotel they would be staying at while in Miami now. They were finding out where their rooms would be and who they’d be rooming with. Technically, the girls weren’t allowed to sleep in the same room as any of the guys, but there was a good chance that rule would end up being broken. The girls’ supposed arrangements had Lauren and Leah in one room and Emily, Ashley, and Ashlen in another. In the same hallway was Jordan and Tyler, Geno and Max, Sidney and Marc-Andre, Eric and Chris, and Kris and Philippe. The rest of the guys were either a floor up or down from the rest of them.
 “Dudes,” Jordan announced to the whole team while they were mostly still in the lobby, “Massive pool party in 10 minutes!”
 “Race ya to our rooms?” Ashley challenged him with a smirk on her peppy face.
 “Oh, it’s on!” Jordy shot back and the two of them took off, Ashley urging the elevator to hurry up while Jordan went for the stair case. Note, they had to carry their luggage with them to the 7th floor. As long as no one stopped the elevator for any reason, there was a good chance Ash would take the win.
 “How adorable are they?” Ashlen laughed, leaning on Sidney.
He chuckled, “If by adorable you mean crazy hyper and slightly insane, then very.”
 “Ha, I guess that’s what happens when they get the extra hours of sleep the whole plane ride.” Ash shrugged.
 “Must be. But no amount of sleep could top our kickass Socom skills.” Sid added with a smile.
 “No doubt about that. We make a great team.” Ashlen said, looking up into Sid’s eyes.
 “We sure do.” He agreed. They’re faces got closer until their lips finally met. They were both smiling when they separated.
 “So, you wanna crash Jordy’s pool party?” Ashlen asked him, lacing their fingers together as they walked towards the elevator to head upstairs.
 “As long as I’m with you, I’ll do anything.” Sid said and Ashlen smiled.
 “I’ll take that as a yes.”

 “Looks like we’re roomies, eh Geno?” Max smiled friendlily at him. Geno nodded back at him.
 “Yup.” He said simply. His attention was more towards Emily than anything else. Though she looked a bit tired and slightly unkempt from the flight, through his eyes she looked like a goddess who only got more beautiful the more he stared at her.
Emily half smiled up at him. “You wanna go out to the pool or something?” She asked, not sounding totally thrilled to be there.
 “Yeah.” Evgeni replied, nodding his head and smiling at her.
 “Hey guys,” Max suddenly cut in, holding up a light blue colored flyer, which he got from the front desk, with bold black letters printed on the top, “Check this out.”
 “Floridian Friday Fest.” Emily read aloud. “What’s that?”
 “Well,” Max started to explain, “It says here that it’s a fun way to spend a Friday. They’ve got free food, fine art, fortune telling, funky music, face painting, fair rides, fireworks, and a bunch of other fun stuff that starts with the letter F.”
 “How delightfully cheesy.” Emily chuckled at the corny sounding festival.
 “I say we should check it out after the game tomorrow.” Max said, curious as to what it would be like.
 “I’m in.” Geno shrugged, agreeing with Max. The two guys were both looking at Emily now with hopeful grins on their faces, as if she were the deciding vote on whether they’d be able to go or not. She smiled at them.
 “Okay, count me in too.” She told them and their smiles grew.
 “Saa-weet!” Max fist pumped elatedly. “Now let’s go party in the pool!”






[this was gonna be longer buttt i dont have time to type today so i figured i should at least post something for youuu. hopefully more real soon!(:]

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Chapter Twenty One;

The bus ride was relatively short and for the most part, quiet. It was still early so the guys, and girls, were still calm from being tired. It wasn’t until they got on the Penguins’ jet that they woke up a bit more and were more talkative. Most of them at least.
Jordan and Ashley were sleeping, her head resting on his shoulder. Leah, Lauren, and Tyler were playing cards with Eric, Craig, Chris and a couple other guys. Kris was seated as far away from Emily and Geno as he could be, along with Philippe who he was talking to about all of what he had missed. Ashlen, Sidney, Max, and Marc-Andre were in the middle of an intense game of Socom on their PSPs. And Geno and Emily were in the seats right behind them, talking.
 “Are you sure you’re gonna be alright?” Evgeni asked her for the tenth time. She told him she wasn’t feeling well, which wasn’t totally a lie considering she did feel a little sick to her stomach and upset about how Kris reacted, and now he was continuously asking her if she was okay. He wanted her to have a good time on the trip, and he felt bad for starting it off on a bad note.
 “Yeah, I think so. It’s probably just a cold. The warm weather will do me good.” Emily told him. She was leaning on his shoulder, wanting to drift off to sleep and not wake up until Monday.
 “Good.” He told her, running his hand through her hair gently, “Did I mention that I was sorry?”
 “Only like a hundred times.” She smiled.
 “Well, make it a hundred and one. I’m sorry for acting like such a jerk. You can’t blame me for worrying about you and getting jealous, though. You’re my girl and you’re beautiful and smart and perfect. I couldn’t help but wanna kill Max for being with you instead of me.” He said, holding her hand in his own. She wanted to smile and be happy he was being so sweet about it, but she couldn’t. She had told him that her and Max were only talking about getting him together with Leah. That way Geno would know Max and her weren’t a couple since he liked Leah, she didn’t like him anymore than a friend since she was helping hook him up with Leah, and he wouldn’t know what else they had really been talking about. Plus, he couldn’t get mad when they talked in the future. It all worked out, but she still felt bad that he was the one doing all the apologizing and feeling bad about what he did, when it should really of been her.
 “Thank you, Geno. But please stop apologizing. It’s not a big deal, and I already forgave you.” Emily said, trying to get herself to sound more happy than she was feeling.
 “I know, I know. I’ll stop now, sorry.” He said without thinking, then caught himself, “Whoops. That was the last time, I swear.”
Emily smiled at him, “Okay, good.”
 “HA! Killed you!!” Max cheered, pointing at Sidney with a smile on his face, then high-fived Fleury. They obviously won the game.
 “Lucky shot! Rematch! Me and Ash will get ya this time!” Sidney shot back.
 “Nah I need a little break,” Max started to say. He turned around to face Geno. “Why don’t you take my spot for a round?”
Geno looked at Emily, as if asking for permission.
 “Yeah, go ahead.” She insisted. This way she’d get to tell Max about what Kris said to her.
Max handed Geno his psp with a smile. They had worked things out, kinda. Geno accepted it and got into the game, teaming up with Fleury to take Sid and Ashlen down.
 “Français?” Max asked Emily.
 “Oui.” She said and nodded. Since they both knew French, they figured it would be the safest and easiest way to talk about Kris while Geno was around.
 “So what did he say?” Max asked her in French.
 “Basically that he loves me but I’m a slutty bitch and he doesn’t want to talk to me until Monday.” She replied.
 “I believe the first part, but there’s no way in hell that he called you that.”
 “He didn’t have to. He obviously thinks it, and from his perspective I have been one.”
 “But you’re not one. And he really said he doesn’t wanna talk to you till then?”
 “Yepp. He claims he needs to relax without me for a few days. I don’t blame him, though. He should be mad at me. I’m mad at myself.”
 “Why are you mad at yourself?”
 “Because I was dumb enough to do something to give him a reason to be mad at me.”
 “Listen,” Max began, “He’s not the only one who needs to relax. You really need to chill out. Take this time that you’re not speaking to him to figure out what you really want.”
 “I already know what I really want. It’s what I’ve wanted all along.”
 “And that is?”
 “Him.”


 “So you’re just going to ignore her?” Philippe asked Kris, who was getting sick of talking about it.
 “It’s not that I’m gonna ignore her,” He tried to explain, “We’re just not going to speak until she gets her priorities straight and figures out what she wants.”
 “So you think she’ll straighten everything out by Monday?” Philippe asked again.
 “That’s what I’m hoping for. And if I know her as well as I think I do, she will.” Kris replied, his voice sounding a little more sure than he actually felt.
He had felt awful making Emily upset earlier. No matter how bad she had hurt him, hurting her was even harder for him to deal with. But he felt he had to say those things to her to get her to realize that he was serious about her. Waiting around watching her and Geno be together wasn’t what he wanted. He loved her with all his might and he wanted to be with her more than anything. So if the only way to accomplish that was to stay clear of her for a few days, so be it. He also had been thinking about Eric’s happiness theory. If what he said was true, then maybe not thinking about Emily for the next few days would end up making him happier than ever. He hoped and prayed that Eric was right.




[that was really shorttt but i had to post something for now lol. hopefully more will be up soon!!(:]

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Chapter Twenty;

Day Seven ;

It was around six in the morning. Emily and Lauren were each finishing packing for the trip they were leaving for in about an hour. The guys would be there soon to pick them up to go to the airport.
 “You got everything?” Emily called to Lauren as she walked out of her room, her zebra striped suitcase trailing behind her.
 “I think so.” Lauren replied from in her bedroom. She was trying to zip her pink and purple bag closed, but was struggling.
 “Need help?” Em asked with a laugh as she walked in the room.
 “Yes please.”
Emily zipped it up for her and heard a knock at their door.
 “I’ll get it!” Lauren exclaimed and sprinted out of her room to answer the door. Emily followed less enthusiastically behind her. She was excited to go on the trip, but not so excited for what might happen while on it. She was getting a headache thinking about it.
 “Class, get your shit! We’re going to Florida!” Jordan yelled as Lauren let him in, quoting a sketch by the Whitest Kids U Know. He was holding Ashley’s hand.
 “What about permission slips?” Lauren asked, continuing the lines from the sketch.
 “FUCK PERMISSION SLIPS!” Both Ashley and Jordan yelled at the same time. The three of them cracked up laughing. Emily smiled a weak, not-so-sincere grin and Max walked in the room, not catching what was so funny.
 “Should I ask?” He asked Emily while the other three kept laughing.
She shrugged, “WKUK joke.”
 “Oh I see. Not funny enough for you?” Max asked her. They were walking further inside and more distant from Laur, Ash, and Jordy.
 “It would be if I were in a better mood.” Emily replied with a sigh.
 “What’s the matter?” He asked, concerned.
 “I don’t know. I’m just so stressed.” She said and then continued in a whisper, even though they weren’t in hearing distance of anyone else. She wanted to be careful, “Like, the whole Geno-Kris thing. I can’t break up with Geno on this trip. It would be a total downer. But I really don’t want to make Kris mad. And I just don’t know what to do, I’m so confused and mad and sad and ugh!”
 “Hey, calm down. Don’t let this ruin your life.” Max put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes as he spoke, “Kris will understand you don’t want to hurt Geno. He loves you. You’ll find a way to get out of this little mess and everything will be fine.”
 “But I don’t want everything to be fine. I want it to be perfect.” She pouted, tears welling up in her blue green eyes.
 “Don’t cry!” Max pleaded. He wasn’t used to these girl problems but he wanted to help her so badly. “Come here.” He said and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back and pressed her face on his shoulder.
 “I’m sorry.” She mumbled, tears falling down her cheeks. She wiped her face on her sleeve. “I don’t know why I’m acting like this. I’m just so… messed up.”
 “You’re not messed up, you’re just in a messed up situation.” Max told her and wiped the tears she missed. “If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it until our vacation is over. Enjoy the sun and the sand and once we get back here we can work this all out. I promise.”
Emily looked him in the eyes and tried her best not to look so upset. “Thanks, Max. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
 “Well you don’t have to worry about that because I’ll always be here for you.” He replied, making her smile for real.
 “Thank you.” She said again as she hugged him tight.
That’s when Evgeni walked into the room. Max released Emily and she turned to face him.
 “Oh hey, Geno.” Max greeted him with a grin. But Geno ignored him. He was studying Emily’s face.
 “Were you crying?” He asked her, his voice sounding worried and slightly confused.
 “Um, no.” She lied, “I fell asleep with my contacts in. They hurt like crazy.”
 “Oh, are you okay? Maybe you should take them out.” Geno said, getting closer to her.
 “I‘m fine, they’ll be okay. It happened before.” She assured him.
 “Okay. Well, do you got everything? We got to leave now.” He replied, standing in a position that excluded Max from their conversation.
 “Yeah, my bag was out there.” Emily gestured towards where she set it near the front door.
 “I’ll go take it outside for you.” Max told her, bringing himself back into the conversation and then left the couple alone.
 “Thanks.” Emily said as he walked away.
Geno took her hands in his own. “So…” He said.
 “So what?” She asked, looking up at him.
 “So, are you excited?” He asked her with a toothy grin.
 “Totally.” She replied, failing at sounding sincere but Geno couldn’t tell the difference.
He just smiled at her and kissed her forehead. She smiled weakly back up at him. He was oblivious to her pain.


 “What up with your sister?” Jordan asked Lauren. They were outside getting into the bus the team was taking to go to the airport. Luckily Mario said it was okay that the girls rode on it with them.
 “I don’t know. She’s probably just tired.” Lauren shrugged. Tyler had his arm wrapped around her. He was all smiles once again.
 “Figures.” Ashley laughed, she was hanging on Jordan’s arm messing around.
Max came outside with Emily’s bag and went to put it with the rest of them.
 “Cute bag, Max.” Kris smirked at him. Max just smiled.
 “It’s your lover’s, you should like it.” He told him, making Kris sigh.
 “It’s been a week. You think she’s gonna dump him here or wait till we get there?” Kris asked him in a hushed voice. Geno and Emily were just coming outside now but were too far away to hear the two of them talking anyway.
Max ran his hand through his hair, remembering what Emily had told him inside and not sure what to tell Kris.
 “Listen, Tanger. She’s got a good heart, she doesn’t want to ruin this trip for him.” He said, trying to put it nicely.
 “What are you saying?” Kris asked, knowing exactly what he meant but didn’t want to believe it. “What’d she tell you?”
 “Nothing, man. She wants to do the right thing. She loves you though. I can tell.” Max said but Kris just shook his head.
 “If she loves me than she’d be with me, not him.” He said angrily and pointed at Evgeni who noticed him and Max looking at him. He had his arms around Emily but she was talking to Ashley, Ashlen and Sidney.
 “She doesn’t want to hurt him.” Max insisted.
 “Yet she doesn’t mind hurting me?” Kris shot back. Max sighed but didn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought.” Kris said after Max didn’t reply.


Geno knew that Kris and Max were watching and probably talking about him and Emily from the other end of the bus. Why, he wasn’t completely sure but it was obvious it had to do with his girlfriend. He thought something funny was going on earlier between her and Max. And the time when they went off on their own at Mario’s. Geno vowed to take care of him if he ever tried anything with her. She was his.
And because he wanted to prove that to him, as Max and Kris were walking towards where he and the rest of them were, Geno pulled Emily close and kissed her like he never kissed her before.
Kris stopped dead in his tracks. Before him stood Geno and Emily, making out when they should be breaking up. He was furious, and stormed on the bus without looking back.
 “Geno,” Emily said, pushing him back angrily. Kris was sure to be pissed now, “Why did you do that?”
 “What? I can’t kiss my girlfriend?” He asked, surprised with her reaction, and angry at the fact that it might be because of Max who was standing near by.
 “I’m sorry, I just don’t feel very good.” She said and got on the bus, following the path that Kris had taken.
There was a slightly awkward feeling in the air outside of the bus now. Jordy, Ashley, Sid, Ashlen, Leah, Laur, and TK stood silently, just looking at each other.
Max was face to face with Evgeni. “Man, what are you trying to prove?” Max asked him.
 “Why do you care?” Geno asked in response.
 “I care because you’re pissing off my friends.” Max told him. He wanted to sound serious but didn’t want to start a fight.
 “You need to mind your own business. And I don’t know what’s going on between you and Em, but I expect it to stop.” Geno said sternly. Max just smirked at him, shaking his head as he did so.
 “I don’t know what you think is going on with us, but I’ll tell you right now I’m not going to stop being her friend. Seriously, man, you keep this act up and you won’t have a girlfriend to worry about.”


 “Kris.” Emily pleaded for him to answer her. He was sitting in the very back seat and she stood next to him. “Kris, please talk to me.”
He turned slowly to look up at her. “What?”
 “Kris, he made me kiss him. I didn’t do that to hurt you.” She said, sadness in her voice.
 “But it did hurt me. Whether it was intentional or not. It hurts a lot.” He replied.
 “I know and…”
 “No, I’m not done.” Kris interrupted her, “I want to know why you say you don’t want to hurt him and you don’t want to hurt me but no matter what, one of us is going to be hurt. You can’t have both. I know that, Geno knows that. Why don’t you know that? You’re hurting all of us by doing this. You’re leading him on if you’re planning on dumping him, or you’re leading me on by telling me that you’re going to when you’re not. You can’t take back what we did because it happened. We both know that. And you can’t take back what we said. I’m in love with you. I said it before, I’ll say it again. But just because you know I am, doesn’t mean you can string me along while you have fun with Geno and I won’t care. I do care. A lot. So make up your mind. I’ll give you these next four days to think about what you want. This is suppose to be a vacation, so that’s what it’s gonna be. I need to relax, so come talk to me on Monday if that’s what you choose.”
Emily stared at him with hurt eyes. Now she knew how it felt. She wanted to say something, but no words would come out. So far this trip was looking pretty awful. She didn’t want to make it worse.
 “Monday it is.” She said and walked back to the front of the bus.

(ps.- sorry for taking a billion years to post this! ive been busy, but ive got soo much planned for this!)



Saturday, August 29, 2009

Chapter Nineteen;

Day Six ;

 “WAKE UP, JEFF!” Emily heard being yelled at her, waking her up the next morning. The girls had all stayed over night at Mario’s, not wanting to have to drive home in the snowy and icy darkness. They crashed on some of his couches, which were rather comfortable. Plus they wanted to be there when the guys got back in the morning.
Emily opened her eyes and after they adjusted to the light, she realized who had woken her up. Standing around her with smug grins on their faces were Lauren, Tyler, Ashley, Jordan, Kris, Max, Leah, and Geno.
 “What the HELL?” She laughed, not caring about how stupid she probably looked at the moment. “Since when do you guys watch the Wiggles?”
 “Ha! I told you she’d know what it was from!” Lauren scoffed at them all. When her and Emily used to baby-sit their cousin Zak, he loved watching the Wiggles and the whole ‘wake up Jeff’ thing was something that was on pretty much every one of his videos. No matter how annoying it was, it just stuck.
 “It’s about time you got up!” Jordan laughed at her. He had his arm around Ashley who just smiled.
 “Well excuse me for wanting to get my beauty sleep.” Emily said, crossing her arms. Sleeping in was something she did when she could. Plus she was feeling a bit extra tired than usual for whatever reason.
 “You must sleep a hell of a lot, considering how beautiful you are.” Evgeni said sweetly and sat down beside her. The three other girls plus Jordan ‘awed’. Emily ignored them and smiled.
 “Thanks, Geno.” She said and kissed him.
Kris looked away for the two seconds it lasted. All he could think was how Geno’s week would be up in a matter of days.
 “How long have you guys been here?” Emily asked, wanting to know how much she slept through.
 “Not that long.” Max replied, “You were the only one still sleeping when we got here, though.”
 “Thanks, guys.” Emily said sarcastically to Lauren, Ashley, and Leah. That’s when she noticed they were missing someone. Two someones, actually. “Where’s Ashlen? And Sid?”
 “Oh, they’re around here somewhere.” Lauren said.
 “Sid took her to show her her room.” Tyler added. He was standing noticeably closer to Lauren than usual. He had his arm around her waist and held her close. He seemed to be becoming more affectionate lately.
 “You think they’re trying out the bed?” Jordan asked with a smirk.
 “Jordy!” Ashley flirt-punched him in the arm.
 “What? Just cause I‘m the only one that said it doesn‘t mean I was the only one thinking it!” He threw his hands up, telling them not to blame him for saying it.
 “Actually Jordan, not everyone here is as perverted as you are so you probably were the only one thinking it.” Emily said, causing them all to laugh at his expense.
 “Ha! She told you, eh Jordy?” Max laughed in his face.
 “I think she’s just cranky cause we woke her up too early.” Jordan tried. Emily just rolled her eyes, her head leaning on Geno’s shoulder.
 “I am not cranky.” She stated but Jordan just laughed.
 “Coulda fooled me!” He said with a smirk.
 “Can’t we all just get along?” Ashley joked.
 “NO!” Emily and Jordan said at the same time, trying to sound serious but cracked and ended up laughing.
That’s when Sidney and Ashlen came back into the room, hand in hand.
 “Hey, food’s in the kitchen if anyone wants any.” Sidney announced. All of the guys’ eyes seemed to light up at the mention of food.
 “Count me in!” TK said and the other guys agreed.
 “I thought you said you guys already ate?” Leah asked them, unsure of how they could be hungry again already.
 “Yeah, so?” Jordan asked. He was already half way out the door, following the smell of pancakes and French toast.
 “It’s a good thing you guys are hockey players and work out all the time.” Emily said.
 “Yeah, otherwise you’d all be giant fat asses.” Ashley added, but the guys ignored the comment and rushed off to go eat. Even though the girls were the ones who hadn’t had breakfast yet.
 “Hahaha oh my god,” Emily burst out laughing at the image in her head as her and the rest of the girls slowly got up and followed in the direction the guys went, “Can you just picture Jordan being, like, four hundred pounds of pure fat?”
Ashley cracked up at the thought, “Oh my god, yeah I actually can!” She said and the two of them laughed even more.
 “Would you still date him and all of his rolls?” Emily asked through laughs.
 “Haha of course I would!” She replied. By then they had entered kitchen where the guys were already seated around the island chowing down on their breakfast. Ashley wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and smiled, “I would still love him even if he weighed a ton! We wouldn’t go out in public much, but I’d still love him.”
 “Good to know, babe.” Jordan said and rolled his eyes playfully. Ashley just laughed and kissed him.
 “You two are just too cute.” Ashlen smiled at the two of them from across the island. She was sitting next to Sidney, her head resting in her hands admiring the couple.
 “Just give it a little time and you and Sid will be just as adorable. With all the name calling, eye rolling, and sarcasm that these two share included.” Max joked with a grin. He was sitting next to Leah and Kris.
 “Can’t wait.” Ashlen replied. She looked over at Sid and smiled.
 “And the sarcasm begins!” Kris said making them laugh and go on with more sarcastic remarks.
Emily smiled from her seat next to Evgeni as she watched Kris. He was laughing and joking with rest of her friends, and though she wanted to join in, she couldn’t. She just didn’t feel like laughing anymore. She actually felt slightly sick. Knowing that the time was drawing near that she told Kris she would end it with Geno made her feel nervous. She liked Geno, she couldn’t deny that anymore. And the more time she spent with him made her like him even more. But she was in love with Kris, and no matter how much she liked Geno, she would never feel the same way about him as she did about Kris. Or at least that’s what she kept telling herself.
 “What’s so funny in here?” Mario asked as he walked into the kitchen. He went straight over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup.
 “Ah, nothing.” Sid said, not wanting to explain.
 “I’m sure.” Mario raised an eyebrow as he took a drink. “You guys better be sharing with the ladies. They need some food, too.”
 “We are sharing,” Jordan objected and took a fork full of pancakes and nearly shoved it in Ashley’s mouth, “See!”
 “Jordan!” Ashley yelled, trying to push the food out of her face. Jordan just laughed.
 “That’s wonderful, Jordy, but I think they can feed themselves.” Mario chuckled.
 “He’s right, ya know.” Lauren said, taking a bite off of Tyler’s plate.
 “Whatever you say.” Jordan gave in with a smirk.
 “Okay, I’ll be upstairs if you need me. So, don’t need me.” Mario chuckled and left the room.
Everyone eventually finished their breakfast and they were just sitting around the island talking about random things on their minds.
 “You know what I haven’t done in a while?” Emily asked as she stared out the window at the falling snow.
 “Geno?” Jordan said with a smirk.
 “Ha ha. Good one, but no.” Emily said sarcastically. Jordan smiled, but she was being serious, “I was going to say, I haven’t played in the snow in forever.”
 “Oh my god, I haven’t either!” Ashley admitted as if she were shocked.
 “We all should, like right now!” Lauren said with a smile, “What d’ya guys say?”
The guys looked at each other and shrugged.
 “Yeah, why not.” Tyler said for them.


After a quick kitchen cleanup and changing into warmer clothes and coats, the gang headed outside into the snow covered yard. It was already pretty deep and it was still falling.
 “Snowball fight, anyone?” Lauren asked and threw a perfectly packed snowball so it hit Jordan right in the chest. Figures he’d be everyone’s choice target.
 “Hell yes!” Jordan yelled after being hit and fired a shot back at her, missing by a mile.
 “Stick to hockey, Jordy.” Sid joked, patting his friend on the shoulder. He replied by sticking his tongue out at him.
 “Teams?” Ashlen asked.
 “I say boys versus girls.” Max suggested.
 “Alright, let’s do this!” Ashley yelled and all the girls got together. Emily was feeling a little more peppy than earlier. Her moods were changing a lot today.
 “Three minutes to get prepared. Then this war will go down!” Max declared loudly from the guys little group.
 “Got it!” Lauren yelled over to him.
 “So, what’s the game plan?” Leah asked. They had all unanimously made Ashley the group leader. She just fit the job.
 “We need to make them think we’re weak at first, then when they least expect it we attack at full strength.” She said just above a whisper so the guys wouldn’t hear.
 “Hey ladies, new rule!” Jordan shouted over to them.
 “What is it?” Ashley yelled back.
 “If you get hit above the waist twice, you’re dead. That means down on the ground, no getting back up!” He replied.
 “Okay, got it!”


Lots of laughs and a hundred snowballs later the war was over and had been won by the ladies. The guys throwing skills had proven to be no match for the girls’. They were all just laying in the snow now, worn out from the fight.
 “You got lucky.” Geno said to the girls.
 “Luck had nothing to do with it.” Lauren replied.
 “I don’t know about you guys,” Max started, “But I’m freezing my ass off out here.”
 “Dude me too!” Ashley agreed.
 “Hot chocolate anyone?” Sidney offered with a chuckle.
 “Hell yes!”
They all went back inside, changed out of their now wet-from-the-melting-snow clothes, and sat around the fireplace in the living room and drank their hot chocolate.
 “Ya know, the snows nice and all, but I can’t wait for summer time.” Ashlen said. Sid had his arm around her as they snuggled on the couch. Jordy and Ashley were on the floor covered with a big soft blanket. Max sat next to Leah and Kris on the other couch. Lauren and Tyler were on one loveseat and Emily and Geno were on the other.
 “Yeah, I can only take so much cold at a time.” Ashley agreed.
 “Funny you should mention that…” Jordan smiled.
 “Surprise time.” Geno whispered so only Emily could hear. She had forgotten about the surprise he had mentioned the other day.
 “Why?” Ashlen asked, noticing the smiles on the other guys’ faces and instantly wondering what they were thinking.
 “Well we were just thinking you guys might wanna take a little trip…” Max said happily.
 “What kind of trip?” Lauren asked.
 “Like a mini vacation.” Tyler replied.
 “But don’t you guys have games?” Leah asked.
 “That’s the thing,” Sidney started to explain, “We’ve got a couple games coming up down in Florida and we thought, why not bring along our favorite girls and party in between games.”
 “Florida?!” Ashley was obviously excited, “Hell yes! When are we going?!”
 “Well,” Jordan began, “We leave tomorrow morning at 7.”
 “Tomorrow?!” Emily was surprised at how soon it would be. “How long are we staying?”
Sidney took it from there, “Well, we’ll get in Miami Thursday, well tomorrow, afternoon and we’ll be free all the rest of the day. Then Friday we have a game versus the Panthers at five, but we don’t really have to do anything else the rest of the day. Saturday we’ll have to head up to Tampa for the game versus the Lightning at three, but then we’re totally free to party till we leave on Sunday.”
 “It’s not that long and we gotta ‘work’ and stuff, but it should make for some fun in the sun!” Max added with an excited smile.
 “And maybe a little fun after the sun goes down, too, if you know what I mean.” Jordan winked.
 “Oh man.” Sid laughed.

 “So this is why you’ve been so happy lately?” Lauren asked Tyler, who had his arm around her waist.
 “Uh, sure.” He replied with a smile.
 “What do you mean, sure?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.
 “I mean, yeah.” He changed his answer and smiled, “Surprise!”
 “You worry me, babe.” She said but smiled at him, “But I still love you.”
 “And I love you.” He replied and kissed her.

 “You excited?” Sidney asked Ashlen, who was all smiles.
 “Am I ever!” She replied. “How long have you guys been planning this?”
 “Not too long. When we realized we’d be spending a few days down in Florida for games we knew leaving you guys here would suck and a mini vacation for all of us couldn’t hurt.” He said with a grin on his face.
 “It’s gonna be so much fun!” Ashlen smiled and kissed him quickly.
Sid chuckled at her enthusiasm, “You’re telling me!”

Geno pushed a lock of Emily’s hair out of her face and looked in her eyes. She smiled slightly.
 “Was that what you thought the surprise was gonna be?” He asked her. Her smile grew a little bit.
 “No, actually. I had no idea what to expect.” She replied honestly, “I’m glad its this, though. I need a vacation.”
 “Yeah, and I was hoping we’d get some alone time once we get there.” Geno said suggestively. Emily, knowing what he was really trying to say, didn’t know quite what to say herself. She just nodded with a weak grin.
 “That’d be nice.” She managed to tell him. He smiled and kissed her on the lips. Once again her mood had changed, but this time she didn’t know what she was feeling. Or thinking.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Chapter Eighteen;

By the time seven o’clock rolled around, the girls were more than ready to watch the guys play. They had spent the day just chilling and getting to know Ashlen better. They all loved her already and were totally glad she was there. They got her caught up on everything she needed to know about the guys and being apart of their “clan”, as they jokingly called their group of friends.
They all found a seat in front of Mario’s enormous flat screen TV as Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey chatted on FSN on the Penguins Pre-game.
 “Seriously, guys. How totally hot does Steigy look tonight?” Ashley joked and the rest of them cracked up.
 “Oh god, he’s just so sexy. I can’t take it.” Emily added with a laugh.
 “Ya know,” Lauren started to say seriously, “He actually was really cute when he was a kid.”
 “How do you know that?” Ashlen asked as she laughed.
 “They showed a picture one time. He was pretty smokin’ if I do say so myself.” Lauren said honestly but couldn’t help but laugh.
 “Oooh! Shush, my man!” Ashley made them all be quiet as Jordan appeared on the screen. He was getting interviewed by FSN’s own Dan Potash at the bench.
 “So Jordan,” Dan began, “With the regular season a little more than half way over and the Pens occupying first place in the Eastern Conference, does the possibility of another Stanley Cup become anymore evident?”
 “Yeah of course. I think we all knew it was a possibility the moment we won it last year to do it again. We’ve got what it takes and we’ve proved that.” Jordan replied with a professional sounding voice. That was something you’d only hear from him when it involved hockey. All of the guys were serious when it came time to play their game.
 “Well thanks for your time, Jordan.” Dan told him with his signature grin.
 “No problem, Danny.” Jordy replied. Right before he skated out of the shot, he subtly pulled on the collar of his jersey, something most people wouldn’t even notice. Most people who weren’t Ashley, that is.
 “Did you guys see that?!” She asked the rest of the girls. Ashlen was the only one who was confused with what she was talking about exactly, considering it was her first time watching a game with the rest of them. “That was our sign. He pulls on his collar to say hi to me.” She explained, much like every other time Jordan did it. This was the first time in a while her explanation was actually needed though.
 “That’s a cute idea! I’ll have to tell Sid to make a sign for me and him.” Ashlen said.
 “As long as you don’t announce every time he does it, like a certain someone in the room, then you totally should!” Emily joked and Ashley fake pouted at her. They all laughed.
 “Five minutes till the puck drops.” Leah said, noticing the countdown clock in the corner of the television screen.
 “Let‘s go Pens!” Lauren said excitedly.



The game was a fast paced one. All the guys were playing hard, especially Max. It was pretty obvious he was trying to impress someone. Leah blushed at the thought of that someone being her. She still didn’t believe he liked her though.
As for scoring, Max sure backed up his claims of putting on a show with his two goals and an assist on Sidney’s one goal, which he dedicated to Ashlen. Jordan, who scored a short handed goal, also dedicated his goal to his girlfriend by yanking on his collar with a smile on his face seconds after he scored it. He then crossed that off of his to-do list. Geno assisted both of Max’s goals but didn’t score one of his own. TK also assisted on one of Max’s goals and on Jordan’s.
Not only was the offense on the top of it’s game, so was the defense. Nothing was getting past Fleury tonight. The Islanders weren’t getting many shots off, but when they tried they were blocked. The Pens were looking sharp on all angles.
The clock was ticking down its final seconds of the game. It was still four to nothing. Some New York fans were already getting out of their sets and leaving before their loss was official. The guys didn’t stop playing until the final horn sounded. Game over. Pens win.
 “Yeah, bitch!” Ashley cheered as the Islanders skated off of the ice defeated. The Penguins congratulated each other on the game well played and then also left the ice.
 “I’m sensing a Pens repeat.” Ashlen said and they all agreed.
 “No doubt in my mind.” Lauren said. They all just had a feeling.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Chapter Seventeen;

 “Welcome home!” Sidney exclaimed, opening the door of Mario’s mansion and leading Ashlen inside.
 “Oh, wow! This is incredible! You live here?!” Ashlen was shocked with how big and amazingly nice the house was. Sidney chuckled at her enthusiastic reaction and wrapped his arms around her waist.
 “Yepp, and now you do too.” He smiled at her and she laughed out of pure bliss.
 “This is amazing. You’re amazing. Everything is amazing!” She said and kissed him on the lips.
 “That was pretty amazing, too.” Sid grinned as they separated.
 “Yes, yes it was.” Ashlen smiled back at him.
 “So, you ready to meet muh frans?” Sidney asked in a ridiculous girly voice that made Ashlen crack up.
 “I fershurr am!” She replied, attempting to mimic his voice but couldn’t help laughing.
Sidney laughed and picked her up, carrying her like a groom would carry his new bride, and walked towards the room where his friends were said to be waiting according to a few text messages.
When the couple entered the living room, Emily was sitting on one couch with Geno next to Kris and Ashley and Jordan. Lauren was with Tyler on the other couch with Leah and Max, who were finally starting to talk a little more thanks to Emily. And Marc-Andre and Eric were each seated in recliners.
 “Sid-naaay! It’s about time, brothaaa!” Jordan exclaimed with a smile. Ashlen looked at Sidney, who was still holding her, with a amused grin.
 “That’s Jordy.” Sid told her with a laugh. He set her down and began the introductions. “Ashlen, this is Kris, Emily, Geno, Ashley, Jordan,” He said pointing them out as he said their names, “Eric, Marc-Andre, Tyler, Lauren, Leah, and Max, who you’ve already met.”
Ashlen smiled at them all, “Hi, I’m Ashlen.” She said, introducing herself. Everyone smiled and either said hi or some other form of a greeting. Emily and Ashley got up out of their seats, to their boyfriends displeasure, and went up to greet Ashlen personally. Sidney left the three of them alone while they talked.
 “Hi, it’s really nice to finally meet you! Sid talks about you non-stop.” Emily said with a friendly smile.
 “Nice to meet you too! And good things, I hope?” Ashlen replied, looking over at Sidney with a raised eyebrow as she said the last part.
 “Only the best.” Ashley assured her with a laugh. “He totally loves you.”
 “That’s what he says.” Ashlen said with an blissful smile on her face. Emily and Ashley looked at each other with slightly shocked expressions.
 “He told you he loves you?” Emily asked, happy for them if it was true.
 “Yeah, it was the sweetest thing ever!” Ashlen gushed and told them exactly what happened.
 “Oh my gosh, that is the sweetest thing ever!” Ashley agreed after she heard the story.
 “I know, he’s amazing.” Ashlen smiled, staring at him as she said it, “What about you guys? You’re dating Jordan, right?” She asked, referring to Ashley.
 “Yeah,” She nodded with a smile of her own, “He’s amazing too, in his own slightly weird way.” She added with a laugh.
Ashlen then turned to Emily, “And let me guess, you’re with Kris?”
 “Oh, no. No I’m actually dating Geno. Kris is like, my best friend though.” Emily corrected her.
 “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just, you two look like you’d be a super good couple. I don’t know why I thought that.” Ashlen apologized.
 “Don’t worry about it.” Em reassured her that it wasn’t a big deal. She actually liked that she thought her and Kris looked like a good couple.
 “Yeah, everyone thinks they’d make a good couple actually. Except Geno, but ya know.” Ashley added with a laugh.
Emily looked at Ashley, confused. “Everyone thinks we’d be a good couple? Since when?”
 “Since forever and a day.” Ashley shrugged like it was no big deal, “But you and Geno are super cute too, don’t worry.”
 “Oh. Okay.” Emily said, not sure of what else to say.
 “Anyways,” Ashley wanted to change the subject. She didn’t want Ashlen to get some weird impression of them by starting some conversation about Kris and Geno and blahhh. She put on a smile and turned to her new friend, “Welcome to the Burgh!”


 “So you gonna watch me play tonight?” Max asked Leah, not sure what else to say.
Leah giggled, “Of course I am. I watch all of your games.”
Max smiled at her answer, “Well be prepared for this one. You’re in for something special.”
 “Oh, am I?” Leah asked with a smile. She was so happy to be talking to him.
 “Yes you are.” Max nodded, looking in her eyes, “I plan on putting on quite a show, for someone very special. So keep an eye out for me.”
 “Will do.” Leah smiled, wishing she was brave enough to kiss him. Max smiled back and the two were silent, not knowing what else to say as they looked at each other for a while.
 “I like your eyes.” Leah said, breaking the silence but feeling embarrassed as soon as she said it. Max just smiled a little bigger.
 “Thank you.” He said, “I like yours too.”
 “Thanks.” Leah could feel herself blushing.
Just then, Mario Lemieux, himself, walked into the room. He went mostly unnoticed until he spoke up.
 “Boys, we need to get going.” He announced to them all. The guys had to get to leave for New York soon and they didn’t have time to just sit around and hang out.
 “Mario,” Sidney interjected leading Ashlen over to him. “I want you to meet Ashlen.”
 “Hi,” She said nervously as she shook his hand, “It’s so nice to meet you.”
 “You too.” Mario replied with a friendly smile, “Sidney has told me a lot about you. I’m glad he’s finally found himself a great girl, such as yourself.”
 “Wow, thank you. And thank you for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it.” Ashlen said with a smile at his complement.
 “No problem at all. You can just think of this as home.” Mario told her, making her feel, as he said, at home. He then turned to look at each of the guys. “Seriously boys, we need to go.” He said and tapped his finger on his wristwatch.
 “We’re coming, we’re coming.” Sidney insisted with a smirk. Mario smirked back at him with a chuckle.
 “It was nice meeting you, Ashlen.” He said with a smile and continued, “And ladies, feel free to enjoy the place while we’re gone. Nathalie’s around here somewhere if you need anything.”
 “Got it. Thanks Mario.” Emily told him and the rest of the girls thanked him for his hospitality as well.
 “You’re very welcome. See you when we get back.” Mario replied, “I’ll give you boys two minutes to say goodbye. Two minutes.” He said and walked out of the room.
Everyone got back to their own little conversations so the guys could tell their girlfriends goodbye, and the girls could wish their boyfriends good luck.
 “Sucks I have to leave when you just got here.” Sidney said to Ashlen, holding her hands in his.
 “I know, but I’ll be right here waiting for you when you get back.” She replied, looking up into his eyes.
 “Promise?” Sid asked with a smile.
 “Of course! I’m not going anywhere, babe.” Ashlen said, also grinning.
 “Good.” He said and kissed her on the lips. “And I meant what I said earlier, about being in love with you and all.”
Ashlen smiled and hugged him tight, “I know. And I’m in love with you, too.”


 “So when am I gonna find out what the surprise is?” Emily asked Geno. She was sitting on his lap on the couch.
 “Once we get back. And when the guys are ready to tell I guess.” He told her with a smile.
 “Should I be nervous?” Emily asked. She had no idea what to expect from them.
 “Ha, no. It’ll be fun. Don’t worry.” Geno assured her. He kissed her lips and she smiled.
 “Okay. I won’t.”


 “Seriously,” Lauren looked her boyfriend in the eyes, “What are you so excited about?”
 “It’s nothing. I’m just in a good mood. It’s a nice day out.” Tyler shrugged, but Lauren wasn’t buying it.
 “Teek, it’s like 12 degrees outside.” She said, arguing against his excuse of it being a nice day.
 “I like the cold.” He smiled. Lauren rolled her blue eyes.
 “It’s been like that for weeks and you weren’t ever this happy.” She said. She really wanted to know what was up with him, but he wouldn’t give in. He was being stubborn. “Just tell me what’s up.”
 “It’s nothing.” Tyler tried to get her to quit, but she was persistent.
 “It has to be something. Are you excited to be away from me? Is that it?” She was becoming aggravated with his secret.
 “No, no, no! Laur, babe, I love you. So, so, so, so much! Believe me, trust me. Let’s just say there’s gonna be a surprise. Please don’t be mad at me for trying to make you happy.” Tyler said with his hand on her cheek. She looked up at him and a smile sprouted on her face.
 “Okay, I’m not mad at you. And I love you too. I just worry when you start acting weird cause I don’t know what you’re thinking.” Lauren said.
 “But if you knew what I was thinking, then the surprise would be ruined.” TK replied with a grin.
 “Oh jeez. What kind of surprise is it?” She asked, not too fond of the idea of a surprise at all.
 “One that you’ll like a whole freaking lot.” Tyler chuckled, “Or at least you better or I’ll be a very, very depressed man.”
 “Oh, well if that’s so then I promise I’ll love it.” Lauren told him and kissed him.
 “I hope so.”


 “Bitch, I’m gonna miss you.” Jordan said to Ashley. She smiled.
 “I’m gonna miss you too, Asshole.” She replied, making him smile as well.
 “I love you, Ash.” Jordan told her. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her close to him.
 “I love you too, Jordy.” She replied and kissed him. “Play like a champion tonight. Kay?”
 “Um, last time I checked I was a champion. So playing like one is, like, a given. It happens naturally.” Jordan said jokingly confident in himself.
 “Alright then, go out there and play naturally. Score some goals for me.” Ash smiled up at him.
 “I’ll put that on my to-do list.” He winked and smiled back.
 “You best put it at the top of that list.” Ashley warned him.
 “The very top is where it shall be.”


 “So,” Leah started, looking at Max with a small smile on her face, “Good luck tonight. I’ll be keeping an eye out for you.”
 “Thanks,” He replied, “You’re in for a show.”
 “Can’t wait.” Leah said. The two of them were silent for a moment.
 “So did anyone tell you about the surprise the guys were planning?” Max finally asked her. She shook her head no.
 “Not that I can remember.” She said. “What is it?”
 “Well, I can’t really say. But are you going to be free the rest of the week?” Max asked, trying not to give anything away.
 “Yeah I should be.” Leah told him. He smiled at her answer.
 “Okay, good.” He said. “It’s gonna be fun.”


Kris looked around the room at his friends and teammates. It made him sick watching the couples hug and kiss and act all flirty with each other. Particularly Emily and Geno. He was trying to be patient and wait for her to dump his ass, but it was hard and he didn’t know how long it would actually take. The fact that Kris would wait forever to be with her, didn’t mean he actually wanted to wait that long.
 “What’s wrong, Tanger?” Eric asked him with a smirk, noticing his gloomy expression. “Don’t got anyone to kiss goodbye?”
 “If I’m not mistaken, you don’t have anyone either.” Kris replied, trying to sound a little more lighthearted than he was feeling.
 “And I’m okay with that.” Godard chuckled, sounding blissful.
 “What’s gotten into you?” Kris asked.
 “Life, man. You should try it.” He replied with a smile.
 “Are you high or something?” Kris wasn’t sure what was up with him, but it was different than how he usually acted.
 “Ha, no! I’m just living my life without worries. No sulking around about useless shit. Just enjoying every breath I take and making the most of every second. You only got one life. Might as well live it up.”
 “Easy for you to say.” Kris sighed, taking a glance over in Emily’s direction.
 “Yeah it is easy for me to say. Wanna know why?” Eric asked him with a look on his face that said he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
 “Sure.” Kris didn’t fight it.
 “Cause someone very close to me told me something that changed my life. And now I’m gonna tell it to you, and I’m gonna change your life.” Eric said, looking Kris in the eyes.
 “Okay, I doubt that but go ahead anyway.” He told him, feeling kind of awkward.
 “Everyone wants to be happy, right? Right. But everyone tries too hard to be happy. I’m here to tell you that it’s not worth the trouble. Skip the drama of chasing that great girl you just can’t have, or the hassle of finding the perfect house to live in. Man, happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you just focus on other stuff it will eventually come right up and land on your shoulder.” Eric placed his hand on Kris’s shoulder as he spoke, “Look at me, man. I’m not stressing about nothing. I’m just enjoying my life the way it is, and that beautiful butterfly I like to call happiness is perched upon my shoulder. Right now. It’s there and it’s not going anywhere. I’m happy, man. You need to take my advice.”
Kris was quiet for a moment, Eric figured because he was taking in his little speech.
 “Seriously, you sound like a stoner right now. Are you sure you’re not high?” Kris asked, a little disturbed by Godard’s weird behavior.
 “Man, if I’m high, then it’s on life.” Eric said with a smile, “But seriously, Tanger. Just think about what I said.”
 “Okay, sure. I won’t forget it.” Kris said, trying to get him to lay off. Hearing about how happy Eric was wasn’t making him feel any happier himself.
 “Good. Now we better get outta here before Mario starts the jet up without us.” Eric told him and then spoke up for everyone in the room to hear. “Let’s go guys! Two minutes is most likely up. Kisses to the misses, see yinz when we get back!” And with that being said, Eric walked out of the room and to where Mario was waiting outside.
 “What’s he on?” Jordan asked with a laugh.
 “I don’t know. He was talking about some butterfly happiness shit.” Kris said rolling his eyes.
 “So our tough guy's a pansy now? That’s just great, considering how well the rest of us are at hockey fights.” Sidney said, looking directly at Jordan during the last comment.
 “Hey!” He protested.
 “Whatever guys. He’s right that we have to leave so let’s go.” Marc-Andre said, laughing to himself at his teammates.
The girls said their final goodbyes to their boyfriends. Kris rolled his eyes again, not seeing why they were making such a big deal. They had away games they couldn’t come to all the time. Just cause Sid’s new girlfriend was here didn’t mean everyone needed to kiss any more than usual.
As dumb as Eric’s happiness speech had sounded, Kris decided to take his advice and not “chase” after Emily to say goodbye. He was walking towards the exit, following Fleury, when he heard his name being called.
 “Kris, come here!” Emily called after him. Geno didn’t have the most pleased look on his face as he stood next to her, but he didn’t say anything to protest. Kris turned around and Emily ran up to him and gave him a hug. “Don’t even think about leaving without telling me goodbye!” She laughed, making Kris smile.
 “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He said. If happiness really was a butterfly, then Emily must be some kind of big beautiful flower that butterflies are attracted to because when Kris was with her, he couldn’t be any happier.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Chapter Sixteen;

Day Five ;


It was finally Tuesday. Sidney drove to the airport extra early to wait for Ashlen’s flight to arrive. When he got there he went straight to the gate where her plane let off. He signed a few autographs for traveling Pens fans that noticed him while he waited. Finally, after waiting for what seemed like years, the door that led to the plane opened.
 “Sidney!” Ashlen yelled, running up to him after being the first passenger to step off of the plane.
 “Ashlen!” He yelled back with the biggest smile possible on his face. Ashlen dropped her bags at her feet and engulfed him in a huge hug.
A few bystanders awed at the couple’s reunion. It was obvious to just about everyone that the two had missed each other more than anything and were even happier to see each other again.
 “You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.” Sidney told her, holding her face in his hands. She looked into his eyes and smiled.
 “They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.” She said, wanting to kiss him so badly. They were so close.
 “Well I think they’re right. I thought I might be in love you before,” Sidney started to say in the sweetest voice and right before he closed the small gap between their lips to place his on hers, he said, “And now I know I am.”



Emily was sprawled across her bed with her phone pressed to her ear. On the other line was Geno, who she had been casually talking to for the past half-hour. She had her iPod plugged into its dock so that it played music quietly as she talked to her boyfriend.
 “So what time do you guys have to leave for New York?” Emily asked Geno.
 “In about two hours.” He replied. “I really wish you could come.”
 “I know, me too. I’m gonna miss you.”
 “Same here. But I think the guys are planning something that you and the rest of the girls are gonna like. I wasn’t suppose to say anything about it, so that’s all I can say now.” Geno told her and she smiled, thinking of what they could possibly be planning.
 “That sounds exciting. Surprises are fun.” Emily laughed.
 “Especially this one.” Evgeni added.
 “Oooh! Now I’m super excited.”
 “You should be.”
 “Trust me, I am.” Emily smiled. She stretched her legs out, still lying on her bed.
 “So, you still listening to music?” Geno asked her. She had told him she was earlier on in their conversation.
 “Yup.”
 “What song?”
 “Sand in Your Shoes, by This Providence.” Emily said as the song played in the background.
 “That’s a good one.” Geno replied.
 “It sure is.” Emily laughed quietly to herself. She was still tired but Sid called all the girls and made them wake up so they were ready when Ashlen came. They were gonna go to Mario’s to watch the game since they couldn’t all fly to New York. Sid wanted Ashlen to feel welcome and he kept stressing that to everyone. Emily didn’t think making her feel welcome would be a problem. From what Sidney told her about her, Ashlen seemed super nice and fun to be with. She’d fit right in.
 “You should of seen Sid this morning before he left for airport. He was freaking out. He wanted to look perfect to see Ashlen.” Geno said with a laugh as he thought about how crazy Sidney had acted.
 “Aw, I think it’s cute. He really likes her, doesn’t he?” Emily asked.
 “He really does. I’m glad he finally found someone he cares about that much. He always had trouble finding good girls.”
 “He certainly did have trouble with that.” Emily chuckled, remembering some of the past failures of girls he had been with. “But, it can be really hard to find the right person sometimes.”
 “Yeah.” Geno said with a smile in his voice. “I must be really lucky.”



Lauren’s phone buzzed next to her head, startling her out of her daydream she was having. She had been awake for a little while, thanks to Sidney, but didn’t want to get up yet. She opened her phone and saw she had received a text message from Tyler.

From: Tyler<3 :]
Good morning beautiful(:

Lauren smiled at the sweet words on the screen and typed up a response.

To: Tyler<3 :]
Morning handsome ;) Call me!

Not surprisingly, about a minute later Tyler’s picture showed up on the screen as it vibrated since he was calling.
 “Good morning.” Lauren greeted him when she answered.
 “Yes it is.” Tyler replied happily.
 “Sounds like somebody’s in a good mood today.” Lauren chuckled.
 “If that somebody you’re talking about is me, then you are correct.”
 “What’s got into you?” Lauren asked him, amused with how lighthearted he sounded.
 “Ah, nothing. I’m just excited.” He replied, still sounding just as happy as before.
 “For what? The game?” She was a little confused.
 “Sure.” Tyler went with that for now.
 “Sure?” Lauren asked, not sure what he meant by that.
 “Sure.” Tyler repeated with a chuckle.
 “Okay then.” Lauren gave up and changed the subject, “So am I gonna see you before you guys leave?”
 “If you’re ready and get to Mario’s within the next two hours, then yes you will.”
 “Then ready I will be.” Lauren stated with a smile.
 “Okay then, I guess I’ll see you there.” Tyler said, starting to end the conversation.
 “Yes you will.”



 “I’m in love with Emily.” Kris finishing by saying, looking anywhere but Boucher’s face. Kris was at his house explaining a lot of what was going on between him and Emily, leaving out most of the details they both promised not to tell anyone. But he felt that since she had Max to talk to about him, he deserved someone to talk to about her. Philippe was the most sensible choice. He was one of Kris’s best friends, he knew he could trust him to keep a secret, and he would be sure to have good advice. Only thing was, Kris didn’t know how he would respond to it all.
 “It’s about time you admitted it.” Philippe chuckled causing Kris to look at him, confused.
 “You knew?” Kris asked him, not recalling ever mentioning how he felt to him before.
 “Well, I knew you loved her. I didn’t know you told her that, but now I do. I’m happy for you, Tanger.” Boucher said with a smile on his face. Kris half smiled back. All he really told him was that he went over to her house, they got in that little argument, he told her he was in love with her and she said it back and they kissed, he skipped the sex and went straight to watching movies and the rest of the stuff they did, claiming that he simply stayed the night there.
 “Thanks. I just wish I could be with her, ya know?” Kris said with a sigh.
 “Well, from what you told me it sure sounds like she wants to be with you too.” Bouch said trying to cheer him up.
 “Yeah, but there’s Geno…”
 “But she’s in love with you.” He pointed out, “I highly doubt she would tell you that if she didn’t mean it.”
 “I know but we have to be all secretive about it, and I don’t like that.” Kris said honestly.
 “What’s Geno gonna do if he finds out?” Philippe asked as if the answer was nothing.
 “Murder me.” Kris replied flatly.
 “No he wouldn’t.” Bouch laughed at the idea.
 “Trust me, he would. He’s really protective of her. He likes her a lot.” Kris said, getting angry talking about it.
 “It’s not like she can help who she loves. He can’t kill you for being the one. You guys just spent some time together and realized your true feelings. It‘s not a big deal.” Phil tried comforting him. It was working, at first. “It’s not like you slept with her or anything.”
Kris hid his face in his hands at that last comment. He was sure to know now.
 “Oh. I take it that you did?” Boucher said awkwardly.
Kris looked up at him with eyes drained of emotion and nodded.
 “Well, then. I take back that last remark.” Bouch said, not sure of what to say.
 “What do I do?” Kris asked finally.
After a moment of thought Philippe replied, “Wait for her. She said she wanted to be with you, right?” Kris nodded and Bouch continued, “Then wait for her to break up with Geno. She’s a good girl, watching out for his feelings. Just give her a little time and then you two can live happily ever after.”
 “You really believe that?” Kris asked him.
 “Yeah, I really do. You two are meant for each other. Something’s gonna happen and you’ll be together in no time.”
 “How can you be so sure?”
 “I just gotta feeling.”